Dreams and Weekends.

Perhaps this is some sort of a tribal milestone; my first Jewish retreat nightmare. I just woke up from a strange dream about a weekend retreat called “Rainbow Lodge”. I think it was billed to be “Woodstock sans the Music” (already sounds like a winner). Rainbow Lodge was off-the-grid and featured workshops (and presumably tie-dyed drum circles) lead by prominent Jewish figures like… Ben and or Jerry. Rumor had it that it was a huge flop and I was doing my best to figure out how to get a ticket in order to spy.

I know, you can never get the 30 seconds it took you to read about my dream back. Sorry.

I go to a lot of “Young Jewish Professional” (YJP) events. It has become a love/hate activity due to a variety of reasons. The primary one being that I just feel awkward and if I could (aka this has actually happened…) I would just stand in the corner pretending to read a book or spend an absurd amount of time swishing my cocktail or inspecting each morsel of food on my fork…but if I am ever going to meet “the one” and not surrender my life to being a crazy cat lady…this is part of the journey.

Friday night I went to one of the lesser painful events: Shabbat After Dark. Stephen Wise Synagogue on the Upper West Side hosts this every few months (perhaps once a month…) after services. Basically a party with ever flowing wine and tasty appetizers to stimulate mingling. I honestly always have a good time…however at the age of 35 I seemingly have lost my ability to flirt and instead go for more of an “earthy-this-is-me” approach. This approach is rarely a hit and I spent the evening relatively on the sidelines speaking to random (but nice) guys who were more interested in getting to know my more flirtatious friends. Sigh.

fun with a smattering of run

Saturday night I went to a “fun run” 5k in Brooklyn. I was more about the fun aspect than the run. After each mile there was a dance party complete with a mini stage and a DJ. Oddly enough (and I have attended a few of these events) most people just walked. I mixed it up with a little bit of both…including running with flailing arms/dance moves. At one point my friend thought we were going the wrong way and turned herself around. She ended up running a 10k…whereas I trusted my get-me-to-the-finish-line internal GPS system. Good times.

Tonight there is a party at the boat basin in honor of today’s Israel Day parade. I’m sure I will have more stories…